'The Greatest Of All Time' Review: Vijay is great in a film titled G.O.A.T, but the film is satisfied with being good but not great.

 

The Greatest of All Time

OVERVIEW:

G.O.A.T is a proper Vijay film after a very long time that works well as an entertainer, despite its many shortcomings.

Venkat Prabhu has always been someone who is known for his style of handling humour in serious subjects and his knack of trying different genres. But this time, VP has managed to pull off a quintessential Thalapathy film with his trademark elements, which almost saved the day. Expecting G.O.A.T to be either Maanaadu/Leo/Mankatha is not gonna help much in getting entertained by this film as it delivers what it promised. VP doesn't get every single element of his style in a correct way, but he definitely brings back the Vijay film we admired and dearly missed.

PERFORMANCES:

Thalapathy Vijay is absolutely fantastic as Gandhi/ Jeevan. The versatility he shows with his characters is a showcase of his talent. While Jeevan's character might feel borderline cheesy, it does the best in keeping us entertained. A very different yet enjoyable Vijay after a period. The gang of Vijay, Prabhudeva, Prashanth and Ajmal share good camaraderie. Barring Vijay, Prashanth gets a meaty role and performs well. Prabhudeva, Sneha are all good in their parts. The characters of Laila, Meenakshi Choudhary and Mohan aren't utilised well.

TECHNICALITIES:

Technically this film is an almost hit with a handful of misses. The much talked De-Aging is actually done really well apart from a few scenes. The CGI is good at parts, but mostly it looks patchy. Cinematography is surprisingly very functional for a film of this size and never strike in terms of visuals. The film's editing is commendable, for the fact that the film is paced better than a lot of recent films.

Yuvan's songs are good to watch at theatres, but aren't as effective as expected. The background score is done well for the most part, but still lacks the punch, a film of this magnitude needed. The placement of songs are definitely not done well, to be precise, Spark. But the other songs are apt for theatrical euphoria. Chinna Chinna Kangal gets a really good placement though.

WRITING AND TREATMENT:

The film has a very thin storyline and it is neither a genre film nor a very content oriented film. The film starts off well, and is followed by some good light-hearted moments. The first half is not a very electrifying one but is definitely a very good one, with a bang-on interval block. The second half dips at places but the cat and mouse play keeps the film running and the last 40 mins really does well to end the film. VP should be definitely appreciated for cracking a 3 hour long film that is definitely pacy to say the least and never loses its momentum drastically. 

The film is neither a very new attempt nor does it promise to be a pathbreaking actioner. The reason why this film is solid is because it achieves what it wanted to do and make an enjoyable, crowd pleasing Vijay entertainer. The writing of this film is clean and coherent for the most part, but never rises to a point where it truly elevates the proceedings. The movie is not entirely cliched, but is predictable in several places. The cameos and references are nearly merged with the narrative and land well, although it felt the film relied too much on its own references. The twists does the job of pushing the narrative forward, but poses a lot of questions in terms of logic. 

VERDICT:

On the whole, The Greatest of All time is a solid Vijay film after a brief period that entertains and engages, even during its dull portions, courtesy of a terrific Vijay and some smart tricks from VP.